After three decades in the restaurant business, it’s easy to look back and notice trends and cycles in people’s eating habits.

After three decades in the restaurant business, it’s easy to look back and notice trends and cycles in people’s eating habits. When we opened our first restaurant in 1987, poultry suppliers could almost give away chicken wings for free.

In the early days wings were cheap. Today, we are so obsessed with wings and breasts that we are raising chickens for the white meat. In the end it’s OK with me because that drives down the price of the dark meat.

There are several cuts of beef that were considered scraps and off-cuts just a few years ago. Today the flatiron steak, hanger steak and tri-tip are hot cuts.

The problem with off-cuts is that eventually people begin to catch on. The laws of supply and demand kick in, and the price of eating steak and chicken goes up.

Nowhere is this more evident in the seafood world. When I was a kid, we always threw back sheepshead — a small- to medium-sized Gulf fish. Now, we serve a lot of sheepshead in our restaurants, and it’s hard to find a legitimate seafood establishment in New Orleans that doesn’t serve sheepshead.

In the early 1990s we could buy sheepshead for $1.75 per pound. Today it can be as high as $6.95 per pound. That might seem like a pretty steep increase, but it’s nothing compared to what has happened with another byproduct — crab claws.

No one was doing anything with the crab claw until Bill Bayley — also the creator of the West Indies Salad — cracked open a blue crab claw, dusted it in four and then dropped it in a deep fryer. That was sometime in the early 1960s.

In 1987 when I started frying crab claws, the price per pound was $4.95. This week a pound of crab claws— at wholesale mind you— costs $16.50. That’s a monumental increase, and restaurateurs are fighting over them.

A steer offers a lot of options with creative cuts. A chicken offers less. Less still are the options with crabmeat. I don’t have an answer, but my stomach sure wishes I did.

Email Robert St. John at www.robertstjohn.com.

Marinated Crab Claws

These must be prepared no earlier than one day in advance and no later than six hours before being served. That’s an 18-hour window for those who don’t want to do the math.

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup white balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

½ cup green onions, chopped

2 Tbsp. red onion, minced

2 Tbsp. celery, chopped fine

2 Tbsp. fresh chives, chopped

1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped

1 Tsp. garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

½ Tsp. dry oregano

¼cup pickled okra, chopped

1 Tbsp. jalapeno, minced

1 Tsp. salt

½ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

1 Tsp. hot sauce

1 pound blue crab claws

In a large, glass bowl, combine all ingredients except claws. Whisk to mix well. Add crab claws and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least six hours or overnight.